A CATRINE man has been jailed for hurling abuse at a member of the public he met as he left a convenience store.

Sean McGregor admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing and uttering offensive remarks on January 28 last year.

The 42-year-old had been due to stand trial on the allegation last week, but his plea of guilty to an amended charge was accepted by the Crown.

Fiscal depute Pamela Brady told Greenock Sheriff Court that a witness was walking on a footpath near the Premier Stores shop in the Inverclyde town's Bow Road when he became aware of McGregor leaving the premises.

(Image: Street View)

The witness, who was wearing a face mask at the time, was singled out by McGregor, who hurled an abusive term at him.

Ms Brady said: “He thought this was a case of mistaken identification.

“The accused continued shouting and swearing at him.

“The witness called 101 and was fearful at this time. The accused shouted, ‘put your phone away’.

“He called 999 and ran further along Bow Road.”

The man was aware of McGregor continuing to shout at him as he headed in the direction of Walker Street.

Sean McGregor was jailed when he appeared at Greenock Sheriff Court. (Image: Newsquest)

He eventually dialled 999 and remained on the phone as he made his way into a church yard, where he stayed until police arrived.

Officers attended the scene and obtained CCTV of the incident.

McGregor was identified from the footage and was subsequently traced by police.

The charge against him originally alleged that he had ‘pursued others’ during the incident, but this was later deleted.

He was jailed for 54 days.